The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-05-07


''The seed of the woman" Somehow,
Christ is always represented as our
Saviour. ''Christ came into the world
to seek and to save that which was lost"
'There is no other name given under
heaven among man whereby we must
be saved" "He that believeth on him
is not condemned, but be that believ-
eth not is condemned already" BE
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved"
The Christian is one who believes in
Christ as The Saviour of men. He may,
OF ne may not, fully understand or
comprehend the mysteries Of Christ's
nature, character and office. He may
regard him as Divinity incarnated in
flesh. He may regard Christ as higher
than all the archangels, and next to the
infinite, so that himself only could say:
''My Father is greater than IL He
may be regarded as, par excellence,
''The only begotten Son of the Father"
Or, ''the frstbOrn of every creature
Or, "as the highest earth-boTn son of
man" But after all, whosoever be-
lieveth on him enough to implicitly
trust his revelations, promises, COM
ma1dments, and warnings, and molds
his life in conformity Herewith, the
same shall be saved. We say this much
because we believe Christ has been de-
clared Head over all things to the
church" And whether he came with
inherent divinity, or delegated power
and authority he certainly came with
all power in heaven and in earth, suf1i-
Gent to do, and direct, all that was
necessary to save man from sin, and to
lead him up to glory, honor, immortal
ity and eternal life.
IL this is admitted, all that we claim
as to the Indispensable nature of Christ's
mission, and Office will follow; even to
his offices Of high priest, mediator, and
Lamb Of God, as an Offering for sin,
will follow. And yet we have no Atm
ity with the ideas that the blood Of
rams, Of goats, or bulls, nor the literal
blood, If it were possible, of a thousand
Christs, could in any manner atone for
a single sin. IF, in speaking Of ami
mails, it can be asserted that 1.-THE
blood thereof, is the life thereof - 80
it can besaid of Christ: 1.-The blood of
Christi stands for the idea, 1.-THE life
of Christ" How that life was given
to atone for, and take away the sins Of
the world, will now claim our attention.
In order to brevity in our illustra-
ton of Christ's mediatorial and sacra-
fetal office, one or two examples must
suffice. 1st. We will suppose that 1, as
a sinner, have committed the crime of
robbing my neighbor Of all his money
and to conceal my guilt, 1 burn bis
house, and leave him homeless without
a shelter for himself, his wife, or for his
children, and thus turn them into the
world penniless to beg or starve. Thus
the law, "Thou shalt not STEAL" has
been transgressed. What now does the
law Of justice demand ? Plainly, not
as some would say, punishment, but
atonement. But how? Why, by prompt
ly returning all the stolen money, and
rebuilding the house; and paying all
the damages, until my injured neighbor
is fully satisfied If l can do this al
most blot out the crime against my
neighbor, by such atonement. The
only one who suffers, in this case, is
myself, as a consequence of my crime,
or as a punishment, or as a sacrifice,
call it which you may. l lose the
price Of the house and the cost of the
damages, besides all the remorse conse-
quent upon my sinful and unneighborly
act. Thus far, like Zaccheus, who pro-
posed to repay fourfold anything which
had been wrongfully taken, no atoner,
outside of himself was needed, except
as a mediator, to teach the wrong doer
what he ought to do to repair the wrong.
But I'd. We will suppose after the rob-
berry, all the money has been squander-
ed, and l am utterly powerless to re-
pair any part Of the wrong, however
bitterly 1 repent of it. Now, have no
means of satisfying the claims of jus
tice. My arraignment and punishment
might keep me from repeating like
offense, and as an example, tend to keep
others from like crimes, but it would
be a poor offset to the just claims Of
my injured and beggared neighbor.
But have loving Christian Father,
and loving older brother also. A lit
tie property has been laid up against a |
time Of need, and house has been Sc
cured for their comfort. But they hear
of my crime and of the utter ruin of |
my neighbOr. Their yearning love has |
always followed me in my utmost wan
behring's, and their sense of justice is |
also outraged in my dastardly act. So |
my Father sends my elder brother, by |
his own cOncurring consent, to atone for |
my sin, by repairing all the damages of |
my much injured neighbor. My brother
thus mediates between myself and the
injured man Having little money